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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225967">Goodnight and Joy be to You All</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByAStream/pseuds/ByAStream'>ByAStream</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Good Place (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:10:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByAStream/pseuds/ByAStream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You get into an accident and have a choice to make. One decision sees you leaving everyone behind, the other sees you returning to them. Two friends help you make your choice along with a group of people tasked with helping you make your decision.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Natasha Romanov (Marvel) &amp; Reader, Steve Rogers/Reader, Tony Stark &amp; Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Goodnight and Joy be to You All</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Somehow, you never expected it to go like this. It seemed almost anti-climatic. You had been in the city, away from the compound, buying a gift for Christmas, the first since the Blip. Steve had made the decision to stay, something that still surprised you. It wasn’t to say you weren’t grateful, you were. But you would be lying if you said you hadn’t expected him to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him. Bucky had cautioned you of as much. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it seemed now that it was all for naught. You lay on the pavement in midtown Manhattan, screams around you as you’re helpless to do anything. A cab sped through the red light and you had been directly in its path. You only felt pain. You felt like something had pierced your skin. You managed to get a glimpse of your abdomen, where a piece of metal was protruding. You felt yourself drifting, too panicked to think of anything else as a medic attended to you.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit, shit we’re losing her!” was all you heard as it grew harder to stay alert. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You woke up, but you weren’t sure where you were. You were sitting on a couch. A man with white hair and glasses popped his head out of the door, calling your name.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Normally, I’d be explaining to you where you are, but you aren’t anywhere. You aren’t in the Good Place nor are you in the Bad Place or the Medium Place. You, my friend, are in limbo,” Michael said. The blonde woman beside him gave him a look and you got the feeling he was withholding some information. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Limbo?” you asked. The last thing you remembered was getting ready to cross the street in midtown after running some errands. You had found the perfect present for Steve and the next thing you knew you had woken up here. You had to be in some weird dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very rare. See, normally in your universe you go somewhere else and the Soulworld exists in...anyway that may be too complicated for our purposes here. All afterlifes across dimensions and universes are connected in someway. You happened to end up here. Limbo. You’re not alive, but you aren’t dead. You have a decision to make. And as part of a...court agreement...we’ve been assigned to help you make your decision,” he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When you say ‘we’ who exactly do you mean?” you asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi. Eleanor Shellstrop. Nice to meet you Miss Renegade ma’am. Big fan of your work. Always wanted to be like you Avengers...well, where I’m from you’re in a movie and your actress is kind of a bench, honestly I probably would have gotten along with her. Anyway, my friends Chidi, Tahani, Jason and I are going to help you decide. Janet has created a place for us to work through this,” the blonde woman said. If you weren’t so confused and concerned, you probably would have been amused. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is my actress at least attractive? Sam and I kind of have a bet on who would play us if an alternate universe existed where our lives were action movies,” you said. You might as well have fun with this. Whatever </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>was. Eleanor looked at you and grinned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dude, she was slamming,” Eleanor said. She led you out of the room and out to the outside. It was a grassy area. It reminded you of the lake outside of Tony’s cabin. You screamed when someone appeared beside you. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Janet, I thought we talked about this whole just appearing thing,” Eleanor said. She introduced you to the three others who would be helping you and explained who Janet was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She reminds me of FRIDAY,” you said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is Friday hot? I bet she’s hot,” Jason said. Eleanor smacked his arm. You blinked as you looked at him. He seemed to be a few crayons short of a full pack. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jason, not the time,” she said. You had to laugh at it. Your heart ached a little bit. The dynamic at play reminded you a bit of home, of your friends, your family. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Friday is an AI designed by Tony Stark,” you said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dude...you know Tony Stark? How did Infinity War go? I kinda died before it came out. Black Widow is so sexy,” Jason said. You just looked at him and then at his friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?” you asked, crossing your arms. You tried to remind yourself that to him, your life was fiction. It didn’t help in the slightest. You were an Avenger and you could think of multiple ways to get him to shut up. Was murder frowned upon in limbo? Could you murder someone while you were in limbo? You had so many questions. Eleanor and Chidi shared a look before Eleanor spoke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s...from Florida,” Eleanor said. You nodded in understanding. That explained a lot about the man. While you were still annoyed with the man, you couldn’t fault him for being from Florida. Something about that state just brought out the weird in people. You, Tony, and Bruce had once hypothesized that if it wasn’t the water, then maybe there was some lost alien tech buried somewhere in the Everglades or something. There was no way the state was just like that, you thought. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Was this Tony Stark wealthy? I knew the man who played him in the movies! Robert always did throw the best parties. And oh, that Chris Evans, I went on a date with him once, but, I was too much woman for him,” Tahani said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right. So. Michael mentioned something about me making a decision. Can’t I just decide and that’s it?” you asked. Chidi sighed. You looked at him curiously as he gestured for you to sit on a bench that appeared out of nowhere.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. The rules of limbo demand you weigh your options before making your decision. Really evaluate your life. We can look to philosophy to help with this decision,” he said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does anyone else find it funny that he’s the one telling her to make a decision? No? Just me?” Tahani asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not the time,” Eleanor said. Chidi requested a chalkboard from Janet and it appeared. He divided it into two sides. Reasons to return to your body and reasons to move on. He handed you the chalk and you stood, walking up to the board. You thought for a moment. Under the ‘reasons to return’ side you put family.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, why family?” Tahani asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not my blood family. We’ve...we’ve already lost a lot this year. The last five years. The Snap, the Blip, fighting Thanos a second time, losing Tony, losing Natasha. I don’t know if they can lose me too,” you said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Someone certainly thinks highly of themselves,” she said. You glared at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s that supposed to mean?” you asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait...Iron Man and Black Widow die? Man! I want my money back!” Jason said with a groan. Everyone turned their heads to look at him. You were three seconds away from smacking him upside the head yourself. You took a breath, reminding yourself that where he was from, you and the rest of the team were simply fictional characters.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t an insult if that’s what you’re thinking. I simply mean that you are so confident in your relationships,” she said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right,” you said. You added more reasons to the board, avoiding putting anything on the side for reasons not to return. It didn’t take long for them to call you out on it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There must be some reason you wouldn’t want to go back,” Eleanor said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, nope. I want to go back,” you said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re scared of something,” she said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Things are only just getting back to normal. Half the universe was wiped out for five years. We lost good people to bring them back,” you said quietly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you helped do that,” she said. You nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think we need to bring in some help,” Chidi said. You looked at him, about to ask him what he meant when you saw two people you thought you’d never see again walk out of the cabin. You stumbled backwards in disbelief. Walking down the stairs of the cabin were Tony and Natasha. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy fork...fork...what the fork,” you said. You were definitely not saying fork. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, right. You can’t curse here because </span>
  <em>
    <span>technically </span>
  </em>
  <span>limbo exists as part of the Good Place. And there’s no cursing in the Good Place. You get used to it,” Eleanor said. You walked toward them. You felt tears stinging your eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is...is this real? Or is this a creation of this dimension?” you asked, your voice breaking. Tony didn’t respond. He just wrapped you in a hug. You sobbed as you wrapped your arms around him. He felt real. You felt Natasha’s hand on your back, rubbing soothing circles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They pulled us from our own afterlife for this, kiddo,” Tony said as you pulled away. You looked over at the group.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear, if this is a forking joke, I will forking kill you all. I don’t care how dead you already are,” you said to them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Forking? Just say forking...what the fork?” Tony asked. Natasha seemed amused by it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re technically in the Good Place or something? I don’t know. I wasn’t really listening when Eleanor explained it to me. Considering this isn’t our universe’s version of the afterlife,” you said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not dead yet. You’re in limbo. And you need to decide,” Natasha said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I did decide. I want to go back,” you said. She sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your decision has to consider both sides. The universal fabric won’t accept it until it’s satisfied that you really thought it through,” Natasha said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How do you know that?” you asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When they came to bring us here, they explained it to us. So, let’s talk. What reasons would you have for not returning to the Earth?” she asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There aren’t any,” you said. She raised an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go on vacation recently?” she asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nat, we don’t do vacations. And I wouldn’t consider death a vacation. It’s kinda permanent. Except y’know when Thanos snaps half the universe out of existence and we bring them back. Oh, except for you,” you said. She put her hands up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did what I had to. We all knew there were risks to our mission. You’re deflecting,” she said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If I chose to stay here. Would I see you and Tony? Would we ever see the others again?” you asked. She touched your face, a comforting gesture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Our universes’ version of this is different. We would be able to see you whenever you wanted, whenever we wanted. We would see them again,” she said. You nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tasha...do you regret it?” you asked. She shook her head, taking your hand in hers as the two of you sat on the bench. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. I could never regret that decision. Not if it means we brought everyone home and from what I heard, we did. We won. We can all rest now,” she said. You closed your eyes as you took a breath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about you Tony?” you asked, looking up at him where he stood. He gave you a sad smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do I regret that I won’t see Morgan grow up? Sure. She’s my kid. Of course I wish I could be there for her. Do I regret that I put an end the Thanos? That sacrificing myself means that the universe is safe from him? No. I don’t. I would choose to sacrifice myself every time, kiddo. Every time,” he said. You felt tears stinging your eyes again. You stood and wrote on the other side of the board, your reasons for staying in the afterlife. There were two. You would get to rest. You would also be reunited with Tony and Natasha. A light started to engulf you. You started to panic and it faded. The four people you had forgotten were there all groaned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You almost made a choice. Almost,” Eleanor said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She might be as bad as Chidi when it comes to making a decision,” Tahani said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Chidi said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I’m right,” she said. You looked at your two friends. You knew what decision you were making. You just needed to do something first. You hugged Natasha and Tony one last time. Natasha gave you a message, you just hoped that you would remember it. You made your way to the four people who had been tasked with helping you.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you think I have a chance with Black Widow?” Jason asked you. You gave him a look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dude, she isn’t even in this universes’ afterlife. So. No. Besides I thought you two had a little something going on?” you asked pointing between him and Tahani.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No...no, why would you think...no,” Tahani said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure Jan, sure,” you said with a smirk. You felt the warmth again, just before you saw the light starting to engulf you. The last thing you saw was Tony and Nat, watching as you disappeared. When you woke up, you felt pain. The room was bright and had the sterile smell of a hospital. Someone’s hand was in yours. When your eyes focused, you saw Steve. You couldn’t speak with everything you were hooked up to, but that was quickly dealt with. His eyes were shining with tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thought we lost you for a bit there,” he said. You nodded, taking a small sip of the water he held to your lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was...was in a weird place. I saw Tony and Nat. Nat said, she said to tell you Box 107 in Metuchen, New Jersey. Said you would know what it meant,” you said. She had told you two things. One to tell Steve that. The other was a message for Clint. Recognition flashed across Steve’s face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You really saw her, huh?” he asked. You nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was so weird. Some dude named Michael said I was in Limbo. And there were these four people who had to help me but they weren’t from our universe they were from an alternate version. Something about a court order...I didn’t think the afterlife had a justice system,” you said. You had a steady stream of visitors while Steve stayed by your side. When Clint showed up, that was when you asked Steve to leave the room. He didn’t want to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You only just woke up after being out for a week,” he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Steve, remember what we talked about earlier?” you asked. He sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, but I’ll be right outside,” he said. You rolled your eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay dear. Run along now,” you teased. He shook his head as he chuckled. When you and Clint were left alone it took you a minute to find your words.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was in Limbo. I don’t care if you believe me or not, Clint, but, I saw her. And I saw Tony. They helped me make my decision. Tasha told me to pass along a message. She wants you to know, she doesn’t regret her decision. That it was worth it if it meant you got Laura and the kids back and that they didn’t lose you in the process. She wants you to know how thankful she is for everything you did for her. And then she told me if you don’t believe me to tell you that ‘you and I remember Budapest very differently’ whatever that means,” you said. Clint just pulled you into a hug. You yelped as it pulled on some of the things you were hooked up to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, sorry,” he said. The two of you fell into light conversation before Steve returned. He had real food with him. In that moment, you weren’t sure who or what you were more in love with, Steve or the burger he set in front of you. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easy, you need to eat slowly,” Steve said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You were going to be spending a few more days in the medical wing. Thought the compound had been destroyed by Thanos, it had been rebuilt in the aftermath. You had been transferred from the hospital in the city to the compound after you had been stabilized. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you feeling?” Bucky asked when he came in to check on you. He had finally convinced Steve to leave for longer than thirty minutes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tired, confused. I don’t know if it was some elaborate dream or not. It felt real though. Seeing them,” you said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What was it like?” Bucky asked. You laughed a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Weird. I was in a place called Limbo, which is apparently a catch all place for every universe. The people helping me were from a different universe where our lives are fiction. This guy Jason from Florida asked if he had a chance with Nat. It was all so bizarre. Apparently it’s all connected and I don’t fully understand it. Honestly I stopped paying attention halfway through the explanation,” you said. Bucky just laughed at the ridiculousness of what you were saying. You fell asleep that night feeling at peace for the first time since the dust had settled from the battle with Thanos. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bonus:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think she’s getting it on with the Winter Soldier or Captain America?” Jason asked when the woman disappeared. Tony and Natasha shared a look. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jason...you know what, never mind, I don’t want to know,” Chidi said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, Breakfast Club, are we going to be sent back to our afterlife now? I was in the middle of something,” Tony said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you go back into the cabin, a portal should be there that will take you back to your universe’s afterlife,” he said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is she going to be okay? Will she remember this?” Natasha asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As far as living, yes, she’s going to have another chance. But we don’t know if she’ll remember being here. That’s not something we decide. We’re just humans who got sent to the Bad Place who then tried to get into the Good Place...and...you know what, I don’t think that’s important,” Eleanor said. Natasha looked at her skeptically but she wasn’t going to question things. She was ready to get back to where she belonged in her own universe. </span>
</p><p> </p>
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